Reaching out with the old blues

Influenced by their growing up in Ibadan, they took their culture as an oyster to explore a genre of music that is thought to be the reserve of the older generation; this has succeeded in selling them to a younger audience. Hannah Ojo writes on the Ibadan sensational gospel group Bois Olorun.

As the sekere (a calabash gourd wrapped with beads) rattles sprightly with the symphony of the sound produced from the agidigbo (thump piano), the agogo (bell) and the talking drum, the crowd at the 5000 capacity Amphi theatre of the Obafemi Awolowo University Campus, Ile-Ife was set aglow as the flow of the percussions could not be resisted by the young folks who flocked in to enjoy the flow of traditional music. Far from what was obtainable in the past when the genre developed as a percussion based style in the late 1930s, Apala seems to have found another appeal in a younger audience as it is now being promulgated by a group of young, suave and urbane men who have taken the music across religious boundary by terming their own gospel apala.

Growing up under the brown dusted roofs of Masfala in the ancient city of Ibadan, which the poet J.P. Clark described as “a city scattered among seven hills like broken china in the sun”. Here children kept hens as pets and playfully beat meningitis out of them by placing them under Kongo bowl. Here teachers taught English and mathematics with Yoruba where children will shout ko se se instead of ‘ impossible’ when a teacher asks them to minus 9 from 2. These experiences form part of an exhilarating childhood experience which make them to declare proudly that whoever did not grow up in Ibadan does not have a sound record of childhood. “Where you grew up doesn’t determine where you will get to. I went to Abike model school in that same Masfala, mind you I won national Mathematics award from that school,” said Feranmi Biala, the banda( head honcho) of the group who later went to on to study Information Systems at the University of Wales, UK. Kayode Adeyemo and Kolade Biala, the other members of the trio are graduates of Computer Science Engineering and Accounting and work as bankers with First Bank and Diamond Bank respectively.

Traditional is not local

If there is one message they preach with their songs, it is the fact that the genre should not be referred to as local. “In the UK, their style of music is their tradition but here we call it international. The fact that it is traditional doesn’t mean it is local so when people approach us and say you are singing local music, we tell them it is tradition and as such could be international.” Apart from the fascination with their culture which influenced their style of music, they were also inspired by the need to channel their talent in a unique way. From their outfit on stage which is usually adire and ankara coupled with their Abeti Aja (dog eared) caps, there is no gainsaying the fact that Bois Olorun are on a mission to reclaim the lost cultural heritage that appears distant to many in their generation. They believe this philosophy should also apply to other aspects of life especially in the way language is used to capture the expressions of some phenomenon. “When we wear our ankara, we don’t call it local, we call it traditional. Our own food should be called amala not yam flour, akara not bean cake. We are trying to be different while campaigning for our tradition not to be local,” they affirmed.

Their traditional appeal also makes them adopt the apala style of sitting down during performance. They said of this trend, “it is a brand. We picked it from the traditional way of singing apala. Only a few people know that. There is no gospel musician that would sit down to perform, so that makes us unique, coupled with so many other things that we put together to form our own brand.” Another unique selling point for them is their rich use of Ibadan dialect which gives their lyrics a humorous touch to non-Ibadans.

The Bois in the men

They are young men in their early thirties and all married. Although they started seven years ago, they still hold on to the name Bois Olorun. “We are forever boys in the hands of God.” Jesus said if anybody cannot bring down himself like a little child, they cannot enter the kingdom of God. You can’t call a child man. Just as politicians have thugs that they use whenever they want to cause some trouble, we are God’s boys so when God has a place he wants us to invade, he calls us,” they said.

One of their popular single ‘Lowo kan ti nba ti flash’ is like an anthem in Ibadan and other South western states where they have performed across campuses, churches and even government events. Ironically, the group which seems to be more popular in Ibadan started from Lagos where the trio once lived. The first time they performed gospel apala as Bois Olorun (Boys of God) was at an Anglican Church at CMS about seven years ago after which they featured at Efizy nite at DayStar Christian Centre, Ikeja. From here they have taken apala across various campuses and functions across the South west. Earlier this year, they were at the Lagos State New Year thanksgiving programme in January where, according to them, “everybody was there” thanks to the first lady Mrs. Abimbola Fashola who is a huge fan. Plans are also underway to take their special brand of apala gospel on a tour of London. There is no end in sight to this gospel of resurgence that the group is engaged with plans underway to take their brand of gospel apala to the nooks and crannies of the country as they are Leveraging on strategies provided by the digital age to bring about a resurgence in apala using their faith as Christians to preach the message.